Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

For all ancient Egyptians, the world was filled with mystery. Most of the things happened around them (good and bad) were unknowable, that’s why they picked Egyptian gods and goddesses for everything….yes literally everything, goodness and evil, happiness and sorrow, power and weakness, they linked all natural and supernatural aspect to their gods and goddesses and that’s how they ended up having thousands of them.

The Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses VS Demons

The ancient Egyptians believed in demons. They believed that demons are powerful and scary but not as powerful as gods, they believed that they are mortal and could be in more than one place at the same time…they believed that they use their supernatural power to effect humans and nature too and that’s why they needed gods and goddesses to balance this and limit the demons power.

The physical form of most of the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses was usually a combination of human and animal. And some were associated with more than an animal and took more than one shape. Few were all humans like Amun, Mut, Nut, Khonsu …and here are the most important Egyptian gods and goddesses:

God Amun:

He is the supreme god of Egypt (specially new kingdom 1500 BC), his name means “the invisible” and although he’s called so, he was depicted in a form of a man with 2 plumes over his head referring to upper and lower Egypt.

The ancient Egyptians during the new kingdom considered him the king of all gods, a magician and a creator god. They built so many temples for him in Luxor such as Karnak Templ and Luxor Temple.

God Anubis:

God of mummification and guardian of the tombs and protector god. He is usually represented in form of a jackal (dog).

The ancient Egyptians put statues of him (complete jackal or human with jackal’s head) inside the tombs to protect it and attack whoever is trying to break into the tomb.

They thought that god Anubis will be adjusting the scale during the judgment process and tell if the person was good or not.

God Osiris

He was the most important god back in ancient Egypt, he’s the owner of the paradise and had the right to let the deceased in or be kicked out, let anyone enjoy the eternal life or be lost with no resurrection.

He is the son of goddess Nut (the sky) and god Ged (the earth), the husband and brother of goddess Isis and father of Horus the falcon.

He was represented in green, blue, black and white colors. Its is believed that he was the first one to be mummified, that’s why he is always represented in a form of a mummy holding the 2 signs or royalty.

It is believed that he was killed by his brother god Seth (the evil god) and his body was cut into 14 pieces and scattered in different places in Egypt, that’s why so many temples were built for Osiris in different places such as Philae temple, Abydos temple and Dendara temple where 2 chapels were dedicated to him.

Goddess Isis:

Isis is the wife and sister of Osiris and the mother of Horus (the falcon). Her name means “the throne“. She is usually represented in a shape of a lady and sometimes a lady with 2 stretched wings.

As a goddess of magic, it is believed that Isis took the shape of the bird and was flying allover the land of Egypt looking for the parts of the body of her husband Osiris after being killed, that’s why one of her shapes is a lady with 2 wings to commemorate the myth of Osiris.

Her cult center was inAswanand she has a beautiful temple built up on an island calledPhilae temple.

God Horus:

Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris. He’s a falcon headed god and sometimes a complete falcon that considered a protective god.

They believed that the pharaoh is the image of god Horus on the earth, They filled thetombswith his images while he’s receiving offering or prayers to support the deceased and help him reaching the paradise of his father god Osiris.

It is known that Horus revenged for his father god Osiris, as when he became adult he killed his uncle god Seth.

God Ra-Hor-Akhty:

The ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses were sometimes mixed together, a unification between god Ra (the sun) and Horus (the falcon), that gave them more power and popularity formed Ra-Hor-Akhty that’s why his shape is a falcon with solar disk upon his head showing this unification

His name Ra-Hor-Akhty mean Horus and Ra at together at the horizon.

Goddess Nut, God Geb and God Shu

1-Goddess Nut: The sky goddess, known by a legend that her body created a vault or canopy over the earth. Her shape is a woman whose body arches across the sky wearing a dress adorned with stars and shes the mother of Osiris.

2-God Geb: The Egyptian god of earth, Geb and Nut were married and had 4 sons and daughters among them Isis, Osiris ans Seth.

3-God Shu: God of air and usually separating Nut and Geb

That’s how the whole universe was created by the Egyptian gods and goddesses , sky(Nut), earth(Geb) and air(Shu)

Goddess Mut:

She is the wife of god Amun. Her name means “mother” as she was the symbolic mother of the pharaoh with Isis and Hathor.

she’s a slim lady dressed in a linen dress she appeared on all major temple walls enthroned with Amun. They believed that all of the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses will obey her husband rules and follow her

She’s usually holding the key of life and an arrow to give it to the pharaoh as a kind of support

Goddess Hathor:

Hathor is a very known goddess among the ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses, she is the goddess of love, playing, dance, music and motherhood. She’s usually a lady with 2 horns between them the sun disk or a complete cow.

She was taking care of god Horus the son of Isis and Osirs, raised him up till he became adult and took revenge from his uncle Seth.

The crocodile headed god, god of evil…although he was evil this is the main reason that made the ancient Egyptians worship him, to get rid of his evil.

It is believed that Sobek has assisted Isis giving birth of her son Horus. It was thought that Sobek could protect the Pharaoh from dark magic.

Mummified crocodiles representing the god have been found in many ancient tombs. The Egyptians mummified both infant and mature crocodiles and even interred crocodile eggs and fetuses(displayed at the mummification museum in Luxor) with the deceased in order to enlist the protection of Sobek in the afterlife.